Survey invites Cranberry residents to weigh in on park use
Cranberry residents can now make their voices heard on the future of township parks and recreation areas through a newly available survey.
The Cranberry Township Comprehensive Recreation, Park and Open Space Plan Survey opened officially at the beginning of October. It invites locals to share their opinions on priorities and hopes for the parks of Cranberry Township.
The survey is part of an effort to update the Cranberry parks plan, looking ahead to the next 10 years of parks and recreation in the township.
“Part of (it) is doing as much public outreach as possible and listening to our community,” said Dan Santoro, township manager. “The survey focuses in and asks our residents to tell us their thoughts, wishes, expectations, both on our existing facilities and parks and how we can improve them, and what new facilities and new things that we can provide from a recreational standpoint.”
The survey, available on the Cranberry Township website, asks residents to share how they use the various recreational areas in the township. That includes the amount of time they spend on recreation and what programs in the township they’re interested in, along with providing comments or suggestions on ways the township could improve its offerings.
“It covers everything from open space and ballfields to trails, to all of the recreational programming and anything you can think of,” Santoro said. “It’s to gather input, so our plan is based on that public input from our residents.”
The survey is one component of the plan’s process. Another is “stakeholder interviews,” in which Cranberry Township representatives and consultants from landscape architect planning firm Pashek + MTR will meet with local groups that use the parks.
“There’s the stakeholder piece, where you’re going to focus on those folks who have specific interests,” Santoro said, citing sports associations or local community clubs as an example.
Later in the process, the township will hold open public meetings to discuss the plan.
Strategic planning officer Kyle Beidler said the township will review data, gathered from stakeholder interviews and surveys, and meet with the public most likely in the spring. Meetings will be opened for the public to discuss drafts of the plan.
“The public input process right now is kind of gathering all that data,” Beidler said. “We take that data, we work with the committee to develop those recommendations through the winter, and then we’ll have something to share and get feedback on.”
The survey will be open until the first week of November.
